Drunk All Over...

I just finished reading a fascinating book about something I have loved but not really understood… Natalie Maclean’s book Red, White and Drunk All Over is a must read for anyone who is a wine enthusiast or would enjoy learning more about a topic that has captivated the hearts, minds and palates of people for centuries.. Much like wineries blend various grapes to make a good wine, Maclean takes snips of history, interesting stories, fun facts and personal reflections to make a tasty concoction the mind will savor.
In one of her many adventures Maclean heads to the Bonny Doon winery in the Santa Cruz valley of Northern California. Napa and Somona are the famous valleys of Cali for wine, however San Cruz is a hidden gem with a handful of great wineries. After reading about MacLean’s experience at Bonny Doon I was eager to check it out. I used to drink one of their wines often that I enjoyed for its taste, fair price and creative packaging. You might have seen and drank it. The bottle has many fortune cookie sized messages stuck inside of its clear transparent bottle for reading pleasure and used to be easily assessable.
The creator of Bonny Doon doesn’t have a pretentious cell in his body, something hard to find in wine lovers. Randell pokes fun at the often times pompous industry with quirky names (in French) and labels for his wines. Bonny Doon was also revolutionary as one of the 1st wineries to bottle their wines with twist off caps rather than corks. As a cork collector I understand how not having that part of the wine drinking ritual could cause dismay, however there are reasons to go with the twist off cap. You can read more about this if you like but for now I will leave it at that. Just for the record I still prefer corks.
Luckily I didn’t have to wait long to check out the winery as I was in the bay area for work this week. To get there I drove down the twisting lanes of ice cream road…If there was a flavor that kids sold from a stand on the side of the road it would be called Christmas, which comes from the omnipresent smell of the pine trees that I inhaled as I cruised with the windows down to my destination. I was pleasantly surprised as I pulled up to Doon’s tasting room which is a quaint cottage with a small picnic area. As I explored the inside I was equally impressed by the laid back staff and friendly fellow tasters. I sipped 8 of their diverse wines, had nice conversations with the staff and other visitors, none of which were over snobby or trying to flex their wine connoisseur muscles. After being warmed by the vino and company and getting a to go box I headed back on the road for some desert.

https://www.bonnydoonvineyard.com/index.html